Northeast State’s Alpha Iota Chi chapter team of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) International Honor Society made their presence known at PTK Catalyst by winning several team awards.
Held April 3-5 in Kansas City, the PTK Catalyst national event brings together member chapters from across the world with advisors and their supporters for professional development and celebration of their accomplishments. The Alpha Iota Chi chapter earned the following awards at Catalyst:
Top 50 College Project for The Porch at Basler Library
Top 50 Honors in Action project for Inspiring Generations
Top Three (3) Theme Award for Stories of Persistence, Resilience, Healing, and Sorrow
Top 100 Chapter
Top 35 Distinguished Chapter
4th Finalist, Most Distinguished Chapter
Faculty advisor Dr. Jane Honeycutt received the Continued Excellence Award recognizing her sustained, stellar work with the chapter. The 2024-25 chapter officers are Shanna Holt, Honors in Action Chair; Kymber Hooven, College Project Chair; Abigail Fanning, Vice President of Scholarship; Drew Farmer, Vice President of Leadership and Treasurer; Griffin Sutton, Co-Vice President of Communication; Stephanie Bolden, Co-Vice President of Communication; Solana Hosburgh, Vice President of Fellowship; Mia Nagai, Vice President of Service; and Jonathan Williams, Secretary.
“We had a super strong team of officers,” said Holt. “Our projects focused on connecting with other humans and creating a sense of belonging.”
The Porch outside Basler Library began taking shape this spring as a project initiated by the AIC officer team.
The team’s college project resulted in the development of “The Porch” outside the front entrance of Wayne Basler Library. The project sought to identify inviting places for students to gather instead of leaving campus immediately after classes. They presented their project to members of the Northeast State Foundation. Impressed with the students’ plan, the foundation agreed to help fund the project’s cost. Construction began earlier this year with a concrete pad being poured. Tables and chairs will be installed later this year. The Porch establishes an outdoor gathering space at the center of the college’s Blountville campus.
Phi Theta Kappa assigns a topic to chapter members every two years. The current year’s topic of the power of stories inspired students to learn more about people within their community. Their Honors-in-Action project, entitled Inspiring Generations, focused on storytelling with the elderly people of their community.
Students met with residents of The Blake assisted living facility in Kingsport to talk to them about their lives. The Blake’s staff invited students to meet residents at an ice cream social to learn more about them.
“They were very open and willing to share,” said Stephanie Bolden, the chapter’s co-vice president of communication. “It makes you want to share your story with them and correlate things in life.”
Chapter officers met with several residents and recorded their stories over 15 weeks. The students also wrote essays about their lives and how they inspired them and future generations. The stories are being archived in the Reclaiming the Past: The Truth About Tennessee database at the college’s Wayne G. Basler Library.
“It was like talking to my grandparents,” said Bolden, who was elected PTK President for the Tennessee Region for 2025-2026. “Before they shared about themselves, they wanted to know about us.”
Alpha Iota Chi holds five-star status, the highest level of participation in Phi Theta Kappa activities. Phi Theta Kappa improves student success by providing opportunities for recognition, scholarships, and intellectual development through scholarly programs based on the society’s hallmarks of scholarship, leadership, service, and fellowship.
The chapter consistently marks high achievements in team and individual categories at the regional and national competition levels. The chapter won several honors at the PTK Tennessee Regional Convention competition held in March. The chapter’s record of achievement sets a new standard of excellence each year.
Northeast State’s Alpha Iota Chi chapter team of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) International Honor Society made their presence known at PTK Catalyst by winning several team awards.
Held April 3-5 in Kansas City, the PTK Catalyst national event brings together member chapters from across the world with advisors and their supporters for professional development and celebration of their accomplishments. The Alpha Iota Chi chapter earned the following awards at Catalyst:
Top 50 College Project for The Porch at Basler Library
Top 50 Honors in Action project for Inspiring Generations
Top Three (3) Theme Award for Stories of Persistence, Resilience, Healing, and Sorrow
Top 100 Chapter
Top 35 Distinguished Chapter
4th Finalist, Most Distinguished Chapter
Faculty advisor Dr. Jane Honeycutt received the Continued Excellence Award recognizing her sustained, stellar work with the chapter. The 2024-25 chapter officers are Shanna Holt, Honors in Action Chair; Kymber Hooven, College Project Chair; Abigail Fanning, Vice President of Scholarship; Drew Farmer, Vice President of Leadership and Treasurer; Griffin Sutton, Co-Vice President of Communication; Stephanie Bolden, Co-Vice President of Communication; Solana Hosburgh, Vice President of Fellowship; Mia Nagai, Vice President of Service; and Jonathan Williams, Secretary.
“We had a super strong team of officers,” said Holt. “Our projects focused on connecting with other humans and creating a sense of belonging.”
The team’s college project resulted in the development of “The Porch” outside the front entrance of Wayne Basler Library. The project sought to identify inviting places for students to gather instead of leaving campus immediately after classes. They presented their project to members of the Northeast State Foundation. Impressed with the students’ plan, the foundation agreed to help fund the project’s cost. Construction began earlier this year with a concrete pad being poured. Tables and chairs will be installed later this year. The Porch establishes an outdoor gathering space at the center of the college’s Blountville campus.
Phi Theta Kappa assigns a topic to chapter members every two years. The current year’s topic of the power of stories inspired students to learn more about people within their community. Their Honors-in-Action project, entitled Inspiring Generations, focused on storytelling with the elderly people of their community.
Students met with residents of The Blake assisted living facility in Kingsport to talk to them about their lives. The Blake’s staff invited students to meet residents at an ice cream social to learn more about them.
“They were very open and willing to share,” said Stephanie Bolden, the chapter’s co-vice president of communication. “It makes you want to share your story with them and correlate things in life.”
Chapter officers met with several residents and recorded their stories over 15 weeks. The students also wrote essays about their lives and how they inspired them and future generations. The stories are being archived in the Reclaiming the Past: The Truth About Tennessee database at the college’s Wayne G. Basler Library.
“It was like talking to my grandparents,” said Bolden, who was elected PTK President for the Tennessee Region for 2025-2026. “Before they shared about themselves, they wanted to know about us.”
Alpha Iota Chi holds five-star status, the highest level of participation in Phi Theta Kappa activities. Phi Theta Kappa improves student success by providing opportunities for recognition, scholarships, and intellectual development through scholarly programs based on the society’s hallmarks of scholarship, leadership, service, and fellowship.
The chapter consistently marks high achievements in team and individual categories at the regional and national competition levels. The chapter won several honors at the PTK Tennessee Regional Convention competition held in March. The chapter’s record of achievement sets a new standard of excellence each year.
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